Recent research by the Federal Trade Commission has found that up to 30% of all online reviews are fake, and most consumers are unable to tell the difference.
Fake reviews are a problem across all industries, and the online TEFL sector is no exception.
In the online TEFL industry, fake reviews typically appear in two forms: positive reviews written by a program about itself, or negative reviews of competing programs authored by rival TEFL providers.
Fake TEFL Online Pro reviews on Reddit.
How to Identify Fake Reviews
The clearest sign of fake reviews is when a TEFL program suddenly racks up a large number of reviews—whether glowing or critical. Some programs have even gained a reputation for this tactic.
If a program is pushing certain review websites, take a closer look. Check the dates of the reviews—if more than two appear on the same day, there’s a good chance that some, or even all, were written by the program itself.
Another way to spot a fake review is by looking closely at the language used.
If someone posts a review and then follows up with a string of other posts or reviews, there’s a good chance the original review isn’t genuine. In the online TEFL world, Reddit is often misused in this way. Affiliate marketers—paid to promote programs—also contribute to this trend by writing blog posts and leaving comments online.
Why Some TEFL Programs Rely on Fake Reviews
The most common reason some TEFL programs rely on fake reviews is simple: to attract more students. They count on people believing the reviews and signing up for their courses.
It’s also common for programs to post negative reviews about their competitors, claiming things like “the certificate was useless” or “this TEFL program is a scam.”
Some programs even go further. For example, one has paid affiliate marketers to take competing courses so they can trash them online—and then “prove” their claims by pretending to be real graduates.
We experienced this firsthand last year when TTA The TEFL Academy paid an affiliate marketer to take our flagship 120-hour Professional TEFL/TESOL Certification Course. Within just one hour of receiving her certificate, she claimed she had already applied to schools but been rejected. Of course, it was completely false. Over the past year, she’s continued to post these complaints online—a level of behavior you wouldn’t expect from a genuine graduate.
Why People Fall for Fake Reviews
People fall for fake reviews because they are carefully crafted to seem authentic. In the case of fake negative reviews, this is amplified by a psychological phenomenon called negativity bias.
Negativity bias is a psychological phenomenon where people give more weight to negative information than to positive or neutral information. In the context of reviews, it explains why:
A single bad review can outweigh several good reviews.
People are more likely to remember negative experiences or warnings.
Consumers may assume negative reviews are more “honest” or trustworthy.
Being able to spot fake reviews is crucial, because the program behind them could be a scam—signing you up and leaving you with very little in return.
Examples of Fake TEFL Online Pro Reviews
The first image in this article shows a few Reddit posts that were started by individuals working for a business competitor.
One of the threads was initiated by the fake graduate we mentioned earlier. Another thread was also started by a competitor, this time using SEO-friendly keywords like “Is TEFL Online Pro Legit?”
After the initial posts, there is a sudden rush of comments from accounts associated with the TEFL competitor and other online TEFL programs.
Some niche Reddit communities are known to be biased, as this allows moderators to justify the significant amount of time they spend managing the subreddit. In some cases, they receive kickbacks from certain online TEFL programs in exchange for clandestine promotions and the ability to publicly discredit their competitors.
Here’s another fake TEFL Online Pro review that targets other programs as well:
ESLinsider TEFL misinformation.
At first glance, you might think ESLinsider is a trustworthy TEFL whistleblower site—and it’s easy to see why, since it’s carefully designed to look legitimate.
But with over 20 years of experience in the TEFL industry, we can confirm that ESLinsider was really set up to funnel people into taking just one online TEFL course: the one offered by ESLinsider itself.
The site is run by Ian Patrick Leahy—a man who has been banned from Facebook since 2017 for spreading misinformation.
He’s also been known to advise his graduates to buy fake degrees—a practice that landed several young Western teachers in a Chinese prison before they were unceremoniously deported.
Would you want that to happen to you? Of course not.
Affiliate Marketers
Affiliate marketers are a big problem in the online TEFL industry.
You might stumble across a blog post claiming that the author was earning $100 an hour teaching English online through [fill in the blank] TEFL program, and feel tempted to sign up. But by the time you realize it, it’s too late—you can’t realistically earn that much online, and the author never even took the course.
In reality, they were paid to write the post and earned a commission whenever someone purchased the course.
And this isn’t just an online TEFL problem—it happens in all sorts of industries.
Here’s one example:
Affiliate marketing example.
Take a look at the “60% Sale” mention. Now, think about it—why would a real graduate spend so much time promoting a TEFL program’s course sale and actively show up in Google searches for that program (The TEFL Academy)?
Could it be that they’re being paid to promote the courses? Or are they just a super generous person who genuinely wants to tell the world—spending countless hours in the process—about a TEFL program they took?
We know you’re smart enough to figure out the real reason.
Interestingly, this affiliate marketer spread misinformation about TEFL Online Pro a few years ago.
She started a thread on Reddit, wrote a blog post, and followed it up with fake comments—exactly the same approach used by the fake TEFL Online Pro graduate we mentioned earlier. That graduate, who was paid to take our 120-hour course last year, also started a Reddit thread, created a blog post, and filled it with fake comments.
Why TEFL Online Pro Takes This Seriously
We take this seriously because we’ve spent years building a strong reputation—only to have a few competitors try to convince people not to take our courses and push their own instead.
That’s why we openly call out competitors who engage in this kind of negative marketing.
Wouldn’t you do the same?
If you want to see authentic TEFL Online Pro reviews, we recommend checking platforms where real students share their experiences:
The main reason we created https://tefl-online-pro-reviews.com/ was simple: to set the record straight and address any misleading claims made by competitors online.
Conclusion
We want to wrap up by making one thing clear: not all online TEFL programs engage in negative marketing or attacks on competitors.
That said, we really don’t understand why the likes of TTA The TEFL Academy do this—it must take a lot of planning to pull off these kinds of campaigns.
If no one calls them out, they’ll likely feel emboldened, as if they have free rein to continue.
Ironically, TTA The TEFL Academy has only been under its current owners since around 2021. Before that, it was a very reputable company with no fake awards or reviews, and we never had any issues with the former owners.
Meanwhile, ESLinsider has long relied on a business model of spreading misinformation, using it to mislead people into taking his course.
There are plenty of online TEFL programs out there, and this post isn’t meant to be a hard sell for TEFL Online Pro.
Instead, it’s a sincere attempt to raise awareness about fake reviews and help you protect yourself from misinformation.
Choosing the right TEFL certification can shape your entire teaching career—online, abroad, or both. Two names that frequently come up in TEFL course research are TEFL Online Pro and The TEFL Academy.
Because there is often confusion (and sometimes misinformation) circulating online, this article offers a clear, factual, SEO-friendly comparison so prospective teachers can decide which program aligns with their goals.
This comparison is based on publicly available information, verifiable accreditation data, student review patterns, and transparent course details.
Course Options
TEFL Online Pro – Course Breakdown
1. 60-Hour Fast-Track TEFL/TESOL Course For teachers with existing experience who need certification quickly. Requirement: must have previous or current TEFL experience.
2. 120-Hour Professional TEFL/TESOL Course The most popular choice for new teachers. No experience required; includes modules on:
Teaching Business English
Teaching Young Learners
Teaching English Online
3. 140-Hour Hybrid TEFL/TESOL Course Online + onsite practicum (20 hours of unobserved teaching practice). Best for those who want classroom experience before teaching abroad.
No experience required; includes modules on:
Teaching Business English
Teaching Young Learners
Teaching English Online
Prices: $149 / $299 / $549 Tutor Support: 24/7 Extras: CV/resume help, visa guidance, job placement assistance International Recognition: Valid for all online and classroom teaching jobs worldwide.
2. Level 5 Diploma (168 hours) Marketed as a “higher-level qualification,” but real-world recognition varies widely outside the UK/Ireland.
3. Add-On Courses (€180 each):
Teaching Business English
Teaching Young Learners
Teaching Online & One-to-One
Prices: €413 / €610 / €180 per specialist course Tutor Support: Standard Extras: Claims “more support than any other TEFL provider” without specifying deliverables.
TEFL Online Pro Homepage.The TEFL Academy Homepage.
Accreditation & Recognition
TEFL Online Pro – Fully Accredited (ACTEFLC)
ACTEFLC is an independent TEFL accreditation body that evaluates:
Course content
Tutor qualifications
Academic rigor
Assessment standards
Student feedback patterns
This makes TEFL Online Pro a fully accredited TEFL/TESOL course provider.
Impact on graduates: ✔ Certificates accepted globally ✔ Straightforward recognition by employers ✔ No confusion over “Level 3” or “Level 5” terminology
The TEFL Academy – Recognized, but Not Fully Accredited
The TEFL Academy lists recognition from QUALIFI, AQC, and DEAC. However:
These are recognition relationships, not full accreditation of the course provider.
Their certificate framework (Level 3 / Level 5) is primarily understood within the UK, Ireland, and Malta.
Employer Confusion:
Many overseas schools and online companies specifically request: ✔ 60-hour TEFL ✔ 120-hour TEFL ✔ 140-hour TEFL
These are internationally standard TEFL/TESOL categories.
A “Level 3 / Level 5 Diploma” often requires explanation, and many employers simply do not know what it means.
✔ Guaranteed teaching job within ~4 weeks ✔ Job placement support ✔ Customized CV/resume editing ✔ Visa guidance ✔ Lifetime help if you want to change locations ✔ 24/7 tutor and support desk availability
The TEFL Academy Jobs
They claim:
“More job support than any other TEFL provider”
“The best online TEFL course”
…but these statements are not backed up with measurable or comparative data, and are not accompanied by a job guarantee.
Negative comments that appear online have been linked to competitors—not graduates
The TEFL Academy Reviews
Documented complaints (public and verifiable) include:
Employers outside the UK not recognizing Level 3/5 terminology
Graduates having to explain qualification levels to recruiters
Certificates being accepted inconsistently outside Europe
Related reviews appear on Trusted TEFL Reviews (public category page).
Transparency: Terms & Conditions
TEFL Online Pro Transparency
✔ All Terms & Conditions pages are visible on every website page. ✔ Pricing and policies are fully transparent.
The TEFL Academy Transparency
✘ Terms & Conditions visibility is limited. ✘ Extra charges are unclear until later in the enrollment process.
Final Verdict: Which TEFL Course Is Better in 2025/2026?
Both providers offer legitimate TEFL training, but they differ significantly in accreditation, recognition, and transparency.
Choose TEFL Online Pro if you want:
✔ Fully accredited and internationally recognized certification ✔ Transparent pricing with no hidden charges ✔ A guaranteed teaching job after course completion ✔ Strong, verified student reviews ✔ Options that include onsite teaching practice ✔ Certificates aligned with the international 60/120/140-hour standards
Choose The TEFL Academy if you want:
✔ A Level 3 or Level 5 certificate specifically for the UK/Ireland job market ✔ A more academically framed course structure ✔ Add-on modules (for an additional fee)
Bottom Line
For teachers planning to work online or anywhere in the world, TEFL Online Pro provides the more widely recognized, fully accredited, competitively priced, and transparent TEFL/TESOL qualification.
The TEFL & TESOL certification course industry is highly competitive.
The competitiveness between TEFL programs has several implications. On one hand, it can drive innovation and encourage institutions to improve the quality of their programs. On the other hand, it can lead to the proliferation of subpar programs that do not adequately prepare graduates for the challenges of teaching English online or abroad.
A further implication of operating within a highly competitive business field is that some companies will try to sabotage their business competitors.
Since winning the Teachers’ Choice Award in 2019, and subsequently winning the same prestigious award in 2020, 2021, and 2022, TEFL Online Pro has been on the receiving end of online attacks by a few of our business competitors.
Which programs have carried out the attacks?
It began with Ian Patrick Leahy, the owner of the TEFL program ESLinsider.
The ESLinsider (unaccredited) TEFL program is run exclusively by Ian Patrick Leahy. ESLinsider has been banned from Facebook (since 2017) for spamming and publishing misinformation, and it has had a number of its videos deleted by YouTube for the same reasons.
ESLinsider is notorious in the TEFL world for writing fictitious, malicious content about its business competitors – on anonymous complaint websites, discussion forums, Reddit, on the blogs it runs, etc.
Pick any TEFL accreditation body, TEFL program, or TEFL reviews website – ESLinsider will have written some trash about it.
MyTEFL, ITTT TEFL, and The TEFL Academy (TTA) apparently sensed blood in the water and joined in on the attacks- essentially regurgitating the nonsense that Ian passes as gospel.
TEFL Online Pro has issued a refutation to the false allegations made by these business competitors, on the teflonlinepro.com official school website:
TEFL Online Pro (https://teflonlinepro.com/) established this tefl-online-pro-reviews.com blog so as to have a platform where we would be able to respond to attacks made by online competitors.
TEFL Online Pro is a legitimate company, providing award-winning and Fully Accredited Online TEFL/TESOL international certification courses training.
We receive consistently positive (verified) customer feedback, and this is in part because of our commitment to maintaining a high level of customer services.
Our course graduates teach English online and teach English overseas, in every country worldwide where English is taught as a second or foreign language, and typically start their teaching jobs within four weeks of course completion.
As of August 18th 2022, 100% of our graduates that have taken one of our courses and that have then wanted to teach (online or overseas) have been successful in their job-search objectives.
All three of the international certification courses provided by our company come with lifetime job support services, included in the price of the course.
In addition to all of the above, TEFL Online Pro is a verified business member with Paypal and has been since 2019.
TEFL Online Pro has many competitors within the Online TEFL/TESOL training marketplace.
The majority of our competitors are similarly held accountable through their accreditation affiliations, but a few of our competitors are not bound by the Codes Of Practice associated with Fully Accredited status – i.e., some of our business competitors offer unaccredited TEFL courses and can operate without any oversight from an external moderation board.
This article has been written as an official rebuttal to the defamatory, malicious, and untrue statements published online about TEFL Online Pro – statements published by four of our business competitors: ESLinsider, ITTT TEFL, MyTEFL, and The TEFL Academy (TTA).
We can confirm for readers of this article that none of those TEFL programs are Fully Accredited, and are, therefore, unaccountable to an external accreditation body – meaning that they can act with impunity with regards to how they treat their customers and how they treat their business competition.
TEFL Online Pro is Fully Accredited by ACTEFLC – Accreditation Council for Teaching English as a Foreign Language Courses.
This article looks at the Google Search results for ‘TEFL Online Pro reviews’ and identifies the real TEFL Online Pro reviews versus the online attacks carried out by our competitors.
Anyone who wants to cause damage to a business can easily do so simply by going online and harming them in one of many different ways. Online attacks on businesses and their professionals may originate from a number of parties, including business competitors.
We would also like to point out at this stage in the article that TEFL Online Pro is in no way a unique case when it comes to the online attacks instigated by the above mentioned TEFL programs.
All four competitors routinely attack their business competitors online.
At TEFL Online Pro we place significant importance on transparency – we have nothing to hide – and we will now look at the (USA) Google Search results for ‘TEFL Online Pro reviews’.
‘TEFL Online Pro reviews’ Google Search results.
Currently, as of 20th July 2021, these are the ‘TEFL Online Pro reviews’ USA first-page Google Search results:
We believe that this Reddit thread was started by a Reddit user, genuinely wanting more information about the TEFL Online Pro Online TEFL/TESOL certification program. However, it was immediately hijacked by shills – represented by our business competition. This is a common issue on Reddit and other discussion forums.This is an authentic ‘TEFL Online Pro reviews’ Google Search result. The link leads to our company Facebook page, where our graduates have left verified testimonials of their course experiences.This link directs the reader to the Reviews page on the teflonlinepro.com school website. On this page, readers can read verified customer reviews.This Google Search result redirects readers to the our YouTube channel, where readers can watch verified video testimonials – all submitted by recent TEFL Online Pro course graduates.Common online platforms for executing competitor attacks, such as defamation, include gripe websites such as Ripoff Report and Complaints Board. These websites require users to register accounts, yet neither of them prevents users from using aliases and posting false or misleading information under them. This ‘TEFL Online Pro: A potential fraudulent company…’ Complaints Board complaint was created by The TEFL Academy (TTA). ESLinsider, ITTT TEFL, and MyTEFL then proceeded to add their own additional comments, under different aliases- employing a click farm to upvote negative comments and downvote positive comments.This Trusted TEFL Reviews ‘Is TEFL Online Pro Legit?’ listing was created by one of our recent graduates – who left a review of their Online TEFL/TESOL certification course experience.We established tefl-online-pro-reviews.com so as to be able to defend ourselves against online attacks made against us by our business competitors.Yet another online attack by Ian Patrick Leahy, from ESLinsider – one of our business competitors. In this post, Ian publishes misleading content that attempts to link our company with the creation of Trusted TEFL Reviews.The domain was registered by MyTEFL. MyTEFL created this attack website and still to this day pays for web hosting for this website.
Analysis of the above nine search results.
Out of the nine search results listed above, only five are authentic TEFL Online Pro listings.
A review published on the independent Online TEFL/TESOL certification course reviews website – Trusted TEFL Reviews. In this review, one of our customers has answered the question as to whether TEFL Online Pro is Legit:
tefl-online-pro-reviews.com is a website that we created in order to have a space online where we could defend ourselves against such baseless online competitor attacks:
The remaining four Google Search results have been created and marketed by our business competitors.
We are now going to strip down to the bone the search results for ESLinsider because he (Ian Patrick Leahy) was the individual that began the misinformation campaign in the hope of piggybacking off our success.
ESLinsider / Ian Patrick Leahy
We have written extensively about Ian Patrick Leahy already on this website:
Therefore, we don’t wish to repeat what we have already stated with regards to Ian Patrick Leahy, his documented crimes, his documented defamation, his unaccredited TEFL/TEKA certification course, and how Ian Leahy has pretty much written trash online about all of his business competitors.
Trusted TEFL Reviews has also exposed this individual for what he really represents:
What we are going to do, though, is simply show you the individual behind ESLinsider:
ESLinsider’s About page. Ian Patrick Leahy took an arts degree at the University of Arizona. Later on, he took a TEFL course. He then decided that he would begin his own TEFL program – something he really had no business doing at all – and since then, he has moved to various different locations and has been accused of providing a subpar TEFL program. He has also been accused of defrauding his TEFL students of money, via credit card fraud.Ian Patrick Leahy (ESLinsider) runs a YouTube channel, where he gives out poor advice. This screenshot was taken from one of his more recent videos, where he recklessly recommends to people that they should avoid going to college. Ian has also published YouTube videos where he has spread his toxic defamation of TEFL Online Pro and other Online TEFL/TESOL certification course programs. His YouTube TEFL Online Pro youTube videos are unavailable for viewing in the UK because YouTube banned them at our request. They were banned because they are defamatory – containing malicious, untrue statements.Ian Leahy – Online English Tutor on Cambly. Ian’s history of defrauding his customers has recently caught up with him and his ESLinsider business is now blacklisted. As a result, Ian has moved back to his hometown of Monroe, New Hampshire, and is currently tutoring English online. Ian Patrick Leahy’s ESLinsider is also banned from Facebook – hence the reason why ESLinsider has no Facebook page.
Ian Patrick Leahy represents everything wrong with the Online TEFL/TESOL industry.
ESLinsider is a one man show, unaccredited, operated by an individual with far too much free time on his hands, who spams the internet with misleading information about his business competition in the hopes that he can convince some people to instead take his TEFL/TEKA course.
A few years ago, Ian was giving out the poor advice that people could teach English in China without the need for having a college degree. Ian actually recommended that instead, people could just buy a fake degree online and use that. As a result, some people took his TEFL/TEKA course, and his advice about using a fake college degree, and were promptly arrested and then deported by the Chinese authorities.
As a result, the ESLinsider TEFL/TEKA certificate is worthless in the largest ESL teacher’s market in the world.
We are 100% certain that Ian Leahy will continue to market his ESLinsider TEFL/TEKA course to unsuspecting newbies, and that he will continue to publish defamatory material online about his business competition.
Legal action against Ian Patrick Leahy of ESLinsider
We began by issuing a Cease and Desist formal notice to Ian (via our company email address) and a copy of this was published as a private message to Ian, on his YouTube channel. When Ian responded as though he could write whatever he wanted to, without accountability, we contacted YouTube and requested that the video be blocked in Japan – Ian’s current home country at the time, before he moved back home to Monroe, New Hampshire.
Cease and Desist formal notice, delivered to Ian Patrick Leahy – ESLinsider.YouTube also have a zero tolerance policy regarding Ian Leahy’s online defamation.
It is very difficult to proceed with legal action against Ian Patrick Leahy because he resides in Monroe, New Hampshire. New Hampshire has the most liberal free-speech laws in the United States – meaning that Ian has a carte blanche to write and publish absolutely anything online that he feels the urge to.
Another obstacle to this process is that ESLinsider is not a registered company. ESLinsider is just a website that Ian Patrick Leahy established.
We are, however, in talks with other Online TEFL/TESOL course providers that have also fallen victim to Ian’s online defamatory attacks and we are all currently pooling our resources together in order to follow a litigation path, whereby we can try to prevent Ian Patrick Leahy from continuing with his Online TEFL/TEKA course scam.
Our research has also shown that Ian Patrick Leahy has likely not paid any taxes to the IRS on any of the revenue earned from his ESLinsider TEFL/TEKA business activities.
ESLinsider April 2nd 2023 update:
Ian has moved back from Japan to the United States because, as he put it, his website “wasn’t doing very good”. He continues the ESLinsider blog and ESLinsider TEFL program, but spends his winters working on ski slopes and appears to be spending a chunk of his spare time continuously repairing an old postal van that he drives across the country in now.
As for ITTT TEFL, MyTEFL, and The TEFL Academy, we would advise them to focus on developing their business and focussing on providing better customer service; as well as obtaining proper, legitimate accreditation.
Anyone who has run a business understands how frustrating it can be when rogue competitors try to run your business down.
Thankfully, we run one of the top-rated Online TEFL & TESOL certification course programs and we have the support of our customers and graduates.
You can read and view verified TEFL Online Pro customers’ reviews on our company Facebook page, on the independent Trusted TEFL Reviews, and on our company’s YouTube channel:
TEFL Online Pro offers a wide range of TEFL/TESOL certification courses to suit different needs and preferences.
All three award-winning, Fully Accredited, and internationally recognized Online TEFL/TESOL certification courses qualify you to teach English online or abroad:
The 60-Hour Fast-Track International Online TEFL/TESOL Certification Course is the perfect solution for people with TEFL experience. This course is fully accredited and internationally recognized. To qualify for this course, you either need to be teaching English now or have taught English in the past:
The 120-Hour Professional International Online TEFL/TESOL Certification Course is the perfect solution for people with little or no TEFL experience. This course is fully accredited and internationally recognized – the certification awarded the same level of qualification as the CELTA, Level 5, and Trinity CertTESOL qualification. No past TEFL experience is necessary – anyone wanting to teach English online or abroad can qualify for this course:
The 140-Hour Hybrid International Online/Onsite TEFL/TESOL Certification Course is the perfect solution for people with little or no TEFL experience who are wanting in-class teaching practice. This course is fully accredited and internationally recognized – the certification awarded is the same level of qualification as the CELTA, Level 5, and Trinity CertTESOL qualification. No past TEFL experience is necessary – anyone wanting to teach English online or abroad can qualify for this course:
All three certification courses come with 24-Hour Online Tutor support, and with lifetime international job support services- both of which are provided without charge.
With a TEFL Online Pro TEFL/TESOL certificate, you can teach English online or abroad.
A recent TEFL Online Pro customer’s Facebook review from February, 2023.
TEFL Online Pro reviews | 2023 | video testimonials.
If you have taken a TEFL Online Pro international TEFL/TESOL certification course, you probably read some of our verified school reviews: on the TEFL Online Pro Facebook page, or on Trusted TEFL Reviews – the independent Online TEFL/TESOL courses reviews website:
You might also have read some of the featured TEFL Online Pro student testimonials on the the Reviews page on the teflonlinepro.com official school website:
Furthermore, you might have had the free time to take a read through some of the TEFL articles that have been added to this this TEFL Online Pro reviews blog:
And, you might have discovered how so unprofessional some of our business competition behave when it comes to black-hat SEO tactics used in the hope of winning new customers.
This is, unfortunately, the price of conducting business in a highly competitive and largely unregulated marketplace as the TEFL & TESOL industry is.
We constantly aim to find new ways of providing the best services for our customers, and we also strive to present all information regarding TEFL Online Pro in a clear, easy-to-digest format. This also applies to TEFL Online Pro reviews, so that our future customers can clearly, and transparently, read genuine feedback from customers who have gone through the process of course enrolment to course graduation.
With this in mind, we have decided to begin a TEFL Online Pro YouTube channel:
So far, we have eleven TEFL Online Pro customer’s videos uploaded.
Three of these videos were recorded by customers who initially recorded a post-course video testimonial, and who have now recorded a video about how their TEFL Online Pro certificate has been an essential document in opening online and abroad teaching job doors.
TEFL Online Pro video testimonials, recorded by our customers:
ESLinsider (Ian Patrick Leahy) Online Defamation Against TEFL Online Pro
The following article highlights for our readers one of the dark underbellies of the Online TEFL/TESOL industry – online defamation. It specifically exposes one such specific example, regarding ESLinsider, and also looks at how we recommend you respond to online defamation should you also become a victim of this spineless (often anonymous) crime.
For any of you unaware of the meaning of ‘defamation’, it is when knowingly false material is published online and with the intent to harm someone’s reputation.
If you have stumbled upon this article, you might have arrived here by typing ‘TEFL Online Pro reviews’ into a search engine.
Listed in that search will be examples of verified customer reviews of the TEFL Online Pro international TEFL/TESOL certification program, such as:
Verified customer reviews on our company’s Facebook page:
But among the genuine TEFL Online Pro customer reviews, you will also see links claiming that TEFL Online Pro is a scam, untrustworthy, a fraud – none of which have been written by anyone who has taken one of our courses.
Ian Leahy is the one-man-show owner of ESLinsider.
It was soon after when TEFL Online Pro won the Teachers’ Choice Award, 2019, when we first noticed the Reddit and forum posts appearing – attacking TEFL Online Pro with conspiracy theory slings of mud. At first, we didn’t really take much notice of them – they were so ridiculous that we brushed them off as prank posts.
But the false accusations grew over time and it has only recently been the case that we have been able to identify exactly who is behind the publication of this online abuse.
It is actually four schools – four of our Online TEFL/TESOL program competitors:
ESLinsider, ITTT TEFL, MyTEFL, and the TEFL Academy.
As the online attacks originated with Ian Patrick Leahy from the ESLinsider TEFL program, and the other three competitors have simply copy and pasted his misinformation, we will focus on ESLinsider in this article.
The ESLinsider (unaccredited) TEFL program is run exclusively by Ian Patrick Leahy. ESLinsider has been banned from Facebook (since 2017) for spamming and publishing misinformation, and it has had a number of its videos deleted by YouTube for the same reasons.
ESLinsider is notorious in the TEFL world for writing fictitious, malicious content about its business competitors – on anonymous complaint websites, discussion forums, Reddit, on the blogs it runs, etc.
Pick any TEFL accreditation body, TEFL program, or TEFL reviews website – ESLinsider will have written some trash about it.
The ESLinsider Online TEFL/TESOL program (shared apartment) Head Office – Fukuoka, Japan.
At first, we were dumbfounded as to why Ian Leahy would spend so much of his personal time focussed on trying to bring down a competitor. But then, we had a read of his Online TEFL/TESOL school blog – located on his official school website pages – and we plainly saw that Ian is a serial defamer that piggybacks of the good reputations of his business competitors.
Why does he do this? What’s in it for him? Why waste the time on this unprofessional path?
Ian Leahy targets his competitors, because when he does so a post linking back to his school shows up in the Google results.
Let’s take TEFL Online Pro as this example. If you Google ‘TEFL Online Pro Reviews’ you see that Ian’s (ESLinsider) attack post is one of the first results for this Google search. This is because he has spent over two weeks now linking the article to other articles and posts that he has written on the internet. Ian is hoping that anyone who searches for TEFL Online Pro reviews will click on his post, be directed to his school website (where the article is published) and then become convinced to take his course, instead of the tefl online pro international TEFL/TESOL certification course.
However, it looks as though people are becoming wise to this scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel tactic as is demonstrated in a recent ESLinsider customer review:
Ian Leahy doesn’t just contain his defamation to website posts and articles published on his own school website though – he also spams his own YouTube channel with his relentless conspiracy theories.
According to Ian Leahy, TEFL Online Pro is ‘FAKE’!
Published on 12th July, 2020, this video is like watching one of Ian’s greatest hits – with TEFL Online Pro being his latest fixation.
It was because Ian obviously thinks that he can get away with online defamation with impunity – spreading false allegations in the hope of winning new customers for his own program – that we decided that enough was enough.
We began by issuing a Cease and Desist formal notice to Ian, via our company email address and a copy of this was published as a private message to Ian, on his YouTube channel. When Ian responded as though he could write whatever he wanted to, without consequences, we contacted YouTube and requested that the video be blocked in Japan – Ian’s current home country.
As you can see from the email screenshot above, YouTube also have a zero tolerance policy regarding Ian Leahy’s online defamation.
We feel that it needs to be pointed out here that Ian Leahy has been accused of faking ESLinsider customer reviews. We can’t comment on this accusation, because we don’t have any proof of this. Besides, we are far too busy – focussed on our customers – to even consider spending time investigating whether this accusation is true or not. What is clear though, is that Ian prefers to have full total control over his customer reviews and that the largest source for ESLinsider reviews are on the ESLinsider school website, where every customer but one has left a 5-star review of his program – which doesn’t seem fishy at all, right?
The only other “reviews” that we found of the ESLinsider Online TEFL/TESOL program are a few Quora posts, all claiming that ‘ESLinsider is legit’ and all (recently) written within days of each other. We searched for the ESLinsider Facebook page – an excellent source of verified customer reviews – but couldn’t locate a page for ESLinsider. On Trusted TEFL Reviews, ESLinsider just have the one (2-star) customer review.
The chief source of ESLinsider reviews is on the ESLinsider school website.
So, what should you do if you find yourself a victim of online defamation?
If the information being spread is false, and if you know who is spreading the untrue rumour(s) then call the person/people out. It might not prevent them from continuing on their sick campaign, but it will let other people be made aware of the larger picture.
And if you do have access to a company lawyer, as we do, then we advise taking the legal route. It might seem expensive at first, and it might take some time to receive closure, but when that closure comes it will be worth it – both in terms of protecting your company name, and making the person/people think twice about doing the same thing to other people in future.
The particular issue with Ian Patrick Leahy is that he has now returned home to the USA and is leading a nomadic lifestyle, so it is extremely difficult to track him down for legal ramifications for his online defamation.
It must also be noted that his ESLinsider TEFL program is now pretty much dead in the water.
Despite the despicable actions of ESLinsider, ITTT TEFL, MyTEFL, and The TEFL Academy, we wish both companies all the best.
If they want to spend their precious time on this planet trying to ruin the reputation of a business competitor then that is their choice. We, on the other hand, prefer to focus on the development of our business and on our customer service support.
What we have done, though, is named and shamed these companies for their poor competitive business practices:
The Teachers’ Choice Award celebrates excellence in TEFL & TESOL online certification course training.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers for choosing to take their Fully Accredited TEFL & TESOL online international certification course with teflonlinepro.com, and for all who voted for our company.
Language schools, universities, current English teachers, and recent Online TEFL/TESOL course graduates take part in the Online TEFL/TESOL international certification course Teachers’ Choice Award, by voting for their favorite Online TEFL/TESOL international certification course program.
It is, therefore, an honor to have won this award for a fourth consecutive year.
Throughout the year, to celebrate this milestone in our company history, we will be offering a number of special course discounts and promotions.
Therefore, please check the Discounts page on teflonlinepro.com when purchasing your TEFL Online Pro international TEFL/TESOL course in case we are running a discount or promotion at that time.
Another exciting piece of news involves the opening up of international borders.
As the world begins opening up, it is now possible again to get on a plane and head off overseas to teach English. And as a way of celebrating the freedom of travel, we want to share with you now some of the most popular Teach English Abroad articles – all taken from the teflonlinepro.com Blog:
TEFL Online Pro Reviews 